CROSSWORD

A first prize of £30 and a bottle of Graham's Six Grapes Port for the first correct solution opened on 8 February, with two runners- up prizes of £20 (or, for UK solvers, the latest edition of The Chambers Dictionary — ring the word 'Dictionary% Entries to: Crossword 1397, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL.

1

3

U

MI5

6 ■ 7 ■ 8 9

10

III

11

g En

13

14

1111

15

•

ill

17

ill

ill

il

il

23 ■ 20

24

25

26

27 28 II

29

ip 10

3,

111

■ 1111

33

■

34

III III

II

36 0

37

38

ill

39

40

The unclued l'ghts, correctly pa red, are connected by a theme. Chambers does not give the noun form at 17D.

Name Address ACROSS 4 Chap on beer, foreign spy, in state of trance (9) 10 Not befitting a father, say, a French friend hides a tear (10) 11 Military engine in Iron Age, rudimentary (6) 14 Frequently have a scowl (5) 16 Nitwit's mistaken, losing face during party (6) 23 Take shellfish round, earning tip

(7)

24 Opening strain enthrals contralto (64) 25 African tree's cut (not all of it) (4) 27 Wine imbibed by river causes easing of tension (7) 32 More than one bird shows sorrow after losing head (6) 34 Son soon, they say, becomes morose (5)

37 Fli)ghty creature, girl, with drink (6

38 Mark and Pat really cooked boldly (10) 39 Judo types, ones taking it easy, we hear, round end of duel (9) 40 Obtains about 50 maps (5) DOWN 1 General's latest weapon (10) 2 Ship's back on river (5) 3 Genius in Geneva on Ecstasy (6) 5 Plants — any with masses of flowers (10, hyphened) 6 This puzzle's theme annoys Mass? Unlikely (7) 7 Standard is below par of course

(5)

8 Gunfights drive away pets (9, hyphened) 9 Tony somehow gets across (4) 13 Girl is against company dance

(7)

15 Turfs out wild civets (6) 17 One lays out a garden and plants a shrub (10) 18 Strode vigorously in street, then stopped (7) 19 Puts in as Trent rises horrifically (10) 20 Most of essay's about university, one right next to a joint (9) 21 The weather round East Arkansas is frightening (6) 26 Football team — bottom one turned up against top of league )

28 (They make smooth jumpers

without trainer initially (7) 31 Dancers delivering charitable gifts round about (5) 34 Broadcast about canal's first barge (4)